Typewriting machine



'-.Nov.8,1938. J; L, PETZ 9 2,135,948;

TYPEWRITINGMACHINE Filed March 2, 1937 A'f'TORNEY INVENTOR Patented Nov. 8, 1938 UNITED STATES TYPEWRITING MACHINE John L. Pe tz, Rochester, N. Y., assignor to international Business Machines Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application March 2, 1937, Serial No. 128,568

23 Claims. (01. 197-133) This invention relates to improvements in continuous billing machines and is directed toward an improvement in the machine described in application Serial No. 127,684, filed by Charles H.

5 Beiderbecke, February 25, 1937.

The above application describes a continuous billing machine comprising the combination of a powr operated typewriter with a liftable platen and a forms carrier adapted to handle a pack lo of continuous forms, whether fanfolded or in the form of superposed webs.

It is customary to actuate the feed rolls which cooperate with the platen to feed work sheets around the platen into engagement with the 5 platen by means of fairly stiff springs in order-to ensure that the work sheets to be typed upon will be firmly grasped by the platen and fed evenly.

In the "billing machine described in the above appllcation,'when the platen is raised, the feed rollers are permitted to follow the movement of the platen for a short distance until stopped by suitable limiting means. When the platen is lowered to normal position, the spring which holds the feed rollers in contact with the platen offers a considerable resistance to downward movement of the platen with the result that it requires quite a little effort to firmly seat the platen in its home position and it sometimes happens that, owing to this opposing force ofiered 30 by the feed rolleroperating spring or springs, the

platen does not become firmly seated at both ends,

if at' all. The present application is directed towards the provision of means for overcoming the above 5 difliculty which, aside from the extra effort and other troubles incidental to overcoming of the force of the spring mentioned, there is sometimes a tendency for the forms to shift relative to each --'other due to uneven engagement with the feed l rollers. Thisis due to the fact that the feed roller assembly is usually centrally pivotally supportv ed and operated bya single spring to secure uniformity of pressure of the feed rollers upon the work sheet wrapped around the platen which pivotal mounting permits the feed roller assembly to tilt more or less to right or left when the platen is raised.

According to the present invention, means is provided to control the movement of the feed rollers whereby they are not permitted to engage the work sheets until the platen reaches its home position, yet, after the platen has finally reached its home position the feed rollers are left free 55 to respond to their operating spring or springs and press the work sheets firmly against the platen.

The single figure of drawings shows an elevation of the left-hand end of a carriage similar to the one described in the above application.

The platen I is rotatably mounted inarms, like 2, which are pivoted at 3 in plates 4 secured to the side plates 5 of the carriage. The side i plates 5 are integrally joined by means of a channel-shaped member 6 which is secured to the 10 plates 5 in any desirable manner, preferably by welding, brazing, or soldering. The member 6 h s grooves formed therein which confront simi lar grooves in the usual carriage supporting rails 1 of the typewriter, which grooves serve as raceways for anti-friction roller assemblies 8 of well known form. The usual carriage-release lever 9 pivoted at H) is provided at each end of the platen and actuates a bail II which cooperates with a .lug i2 formed in a leverthe function of which is to release the usual escapement pawls to per" mit the carriage to be moved by. hand to any desired position.

Thearms 2 are integrally Joined by means of a tube l3 through which passes a rod II to the l'| secured to plate 5, there being one such plate A I! at each end of the platen. Normally, the hookshaped portions I5a engage the lugs ilato hold the platen in loweredor writing position, springs l8 connected to the hook-shaped portions I51: and to pins carried by the arm 2 holding the latches in engagement with the lugs Ila, the platen is kept firmly seated in its normal po- 40 sition.- However, there need be provided only one lever i6 which is preferably located at the left-hand end of the platen.

The numerals l9 and 20 designate the usual feed rollers which cooperate with the platen to feed the work sheets. These feed rollers are mounted upon shafts carried by a paper deflector frame 2i which supports the paper deflector 22. Pivotally mounted in the plates 5 in front of and below the platen I is a rod 23. Near the mid-point of this rod 23 there is secured an arm 24 having a bend near its mid-point in which rests a rod 240 extending parallel with the platen and forming part of the paper deflector and feed roller assembly. A plunger 25 is loosely I screwed into a hole in the member 6 and at its pper end is socketed in a hole in the arm 24. A spring 26 loosely coiled around plunger 25 is socketed by a shoulder in the upper end of plunger 25 and by the bushing 25a. Spring 26 presses the arm 24a upwardly whereby the feed rollers l9 and 20 are pressed firmly against the platen.

Normally, when the platen is raised, the spring 26, which must be fairly heavy to lift the pape deflector assembly with sufiicient force to grip the work sheets firmly, will cause the paper defiector and feed roller assembly to follow the platen in its raising movement for a short distance and obviously this spring must be compressed in lowering the platen.

In'order to relieve the operator of the additional work incidental to compressing the spring during the last part of the movement of the platen to its home position mechanism is provided to cause this compression of the spring to take place gradually throughout a major portion of the downward movement of the platen; that is, to spread the work of moving the paper deflector and feed roller assembly downwardly over a longer period of time and accomplish it by levers whose mechanical advantage is one of force rather than speed.

Pivoted at 28 on the side, of the arm 2 at the left-hand end of'the carriage is a double-armed latch lever 29 having one arm thereof engageable with the lug Ila and normally held in contact therewith by means of a spring 30 anchored to the other arm of lever 29 and to the same pin which anchors the spring I8 to the arm 2. The three-armed latch lever I5 is provided with a latch arm I5b adapted to cooperatewith a latching lug 29a formed in the lever 29. Normally, however, the lug 29a is clear of the end of latch arm I5b. 'Pivoted at 3| to the arm 2 is a relatively long curved lever 32 connected by a spring 33 to a pin carried by the arm 2. The lever 32 has a pin 32a in the plane of one arm oi the latch lever I5whereby, when the latch member l5is rocked counterclockwise, the lever 32 will be similarly rocked by coaction of the pin 32a with the latch lever I5.

The lever 32 has a second pin 32b on the opposite side of the pivot 3| of the pin 32a. This pin 32b is connected by a spring 33 to a pin carried'by an arm 34 also pivoted at 3I, the spring 32 normally holding the arm 34 in engagement with pin 32b. A. pair of shroud plates 35 is riveted on opposite sides of the arm 34, which plates serve as guides for the free end of a lever 36 which is secured to the rod 23. The arm 36 has a nose 36a opposite a similarly shaped nose at both ends of the carriage and disengage them.

from the lugs Ila. While the arm I6 is being raised in this fashion, the pin 32a is also pushed upwardly by the lever I5, thereby rocking lever 32 counterclockwise. This causes the nose 34a to move to the right until'it engages the nose 36a after a small amount of movement of the lever 32 and thereafter further movement of the arm 34 to the right is stopped until the platen has 2,185,948 uided at its lower end by a. hole in a bushing 25a been raised far enough for nose 34a to snap over nose 36a.

When the platen is fully elevated, the arms 2 are engaged by step lugs 4a formed in the plates 4. The weight of the platen and the other parts carried by thearms 2 is counterbalanced by means of torsion springs 31 which are hooked around the edges of frames 4 and the edges of the arms 24, these springs also serving to hold the platen in elevated position. The spring 31 is not, however, strong enough to raise the platen to the fully elevated, position unaided, but merely serves.

to relievetheppera tor of most of the weight of the platen and other parts supported .by the arm 2. v

As the platen rises from the position shown in the drawing, the spring 30, holding the lower arm of lever 29 in engagement with lever Ila, gradually moves the upper arm \29a against the edge of the latching arm I5b whereby, when the hook portion I5a becomes fully disengaged from the lug Ila, the lug 29a engages the'arm I5b and eventually snaps over said arm to hold the latching member I5 in the unlatched position. During the initial part of the movement of the platen to the elevated position, the feed rollers I9 and 2l) follow the platen for a shorgdistance as a conwill have reengaged the pin 32b and the nose 34a now will occupy a position directly above the nose 36a in the end of lever 36. As the platen descends, the nose 34a will press down upon the nose 36a and gradually force the arm 36' downwardly, thereby causing the feed rollers I9, 20 and paper deflector 22 to move downwardly as the platen descends, but considerably more slowly, owing to the ratios between the levers. Eventually lug Ila will engage the lower arm of latch lever 29 and gradually disengage the lug 29a from the latch arm I5b. When the platen reachesits normal position, the hook-shaped portion I5a will snap under the lug Ila and allow the arm 32 to become restored to its normal position, thereby permitting lever 32 to rock clockwise to free the nose 34a from the nose 36a and permitting the arm 36 to move upwardly a slight amount. Since the nose 34a is slightly lower than the nose 36a, the lever 36 is alwayspushed downwardly slightly below its normal position from which it will be seen that the feed rollers do not actually exert pressure against the platen until it is in its home position.

It will be noted that the radial distance from the center of rod 23 to the center of 'rod 24a is approximately one-fifth theradial distance from rod 23 to the nose 36a. Similarly, the radial distance between the nose 34a and the center of pivot 3 for the arms 32 is very much smaller than the radial distance from the pivot 3 to the end of lever l6. It is clear, therefore, that the force which must be' exerted by the operator to depress the paper deflector and feed rollers is so small as to be virtually negligible. Thus, instead of applying a relatively strong force practically.

directly to the platen during the last stages of its movement to homeposition to overcome the pressure of spring 25, the present invention provides a means whereby a negligible force is applied with a high leverage ratio throughout a major portion of the movement of the platen to its home position. It will be seen, therefore, that practically no effort is required to raise or lower the platen since the weight of the platen and the parts carried by the arms is'very nearly counterbalanced by the springs 31.

While there has been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to a single embodiment it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions. and'changes in the form and dey tails of the device illustrated and in its operation and tending to cause the feed rollers to follow the platen in its displacing movement,- and means to move the feed rollers back toward'their normal position in advance of the restoration of the platen from a displaced position to its normal position.

2. In a continuous billing machine the combination of a platen movable ,from a writing position to release forms wrapped around theplaten,

feed rollers cooperating with the-platen when in its writing position to feed said forms, means to engage the feed rollers with the platen, said means tending to cause the feed rollers to followthe platen in its movement away from writing position; and means responsive to restoration of the platen to writing position for moving the feed rollers back toward their normal position in advance of the platen.

3. In a continuous billing machine, a

in the carriage whereby the platen may be displaced from a writing to a non-writing position,

feed rollers mounted on the carriage and coop-- erating with the platen when the latter is in writing positionto feed work sheets, means urging the i feed rollers into engagement with the platen the platen may be displaced from a writing to a whereby the feed rollersfollow movement of .the platen to non-writing position when the platen is displaced, and means operated by the first- -named means for moving the feed rollers back toward their normal position in advance of the platen.

4. In a continuous billing machine, the combination of a carriage, a platen, means to movably mount the platen in the carriage whereby the platen may be moved from a writing to-a 'non-' writing position including an arm rockably mounted inthe 'carriage,sheet gripping means cooperating with the platen whenv in its writing position for pressing work sheets against the platen, means to engage the sheet gr pping means with the platen whereby the sheet gripping means tends to' follow the platen in its movements to the non-writing position, and means operated by nation of a carriage, a platen, a pair of movable 75 armsior supporting the platen in the carriage platen} a carriage, means to movably mount the platen whereby the platen may be displaced from a writing position to a non-writing position, means cooperating with the platen when in its writing position to hold work sheets against the platen,

means to engage the holding means with the platen and tending to cause the holding means tofollow the platen in its movement to non-writing position, an arm pivotally mounted in the carriage and having a connection to operate the holding means, and means carried by one of the arms which support the platen and engaging the second named" arm for moving the holding means back toward their normal position while the platen is being restored to writing position.

6. In a continuous billing machine, the combination of a carriage, a platen, and means for movably mounting the platen in the carriage whereby the platen may be displaced from a writing position to a nonwriting position including a pair of arms pivotally mounted in the carriage and rotatably supporting the platen, means to latch the platen in its writing position,- a lever for releasingsaid latch means, feed rollers movably mounted in the'carriage, means to actuate the feed rollers into engagement with the platen to grip a work sheet between the platenand the feed rollers, said actuating means causing the feed rollers to follow the movementot the platen from its writing to non-writing positions, means placed: from a writing to a non-writing position,

means to latch the platen in its writing position, a release lever for the latching means, means to lock the latching meansin unlatched position while the platen is being displaced from a writing to a non-writing position, and means carried by the carriage for releasing the latching means when the platen reaches its. writing position.

8. In acontinuous billing machine, the combination of a carriage, a platen, and means to movably mount the platen in the carriage whereby non-writing position-including a pair of arms by said arms and cooperating with part. of the carriage for latching the platen in its writing" pivotally mounted in the carriage, means carried position, a lever for'releasing the latching means to permit displacing the platen to non-writing.

position, and means to lock the latching means in disengaged position, said locking means'being disengaged by cooperation with a part of the carriage whereby the latching means is released only when the platen reaches its'writing position.

9. In a continuous billing machine, the combination of a carriage,'a platen, means to movably support the platen in-the carriage whereby the latter may be displaced from a writing to a nonwriting position, feed rollers movably mounted in the carriage, means to engage saidfeed rolls with tion, and means connected to the first named means for operating the feed rollers when the platen is restored to its writing position whereby the feed rollers move in the same direction as the platen during its restoring movement.

10. In a continuous, billing machine, the combination of a carriage, and' a platen movably 5 mounted in the carriage so as to be displaceable from a writing to a non-writing position, feed rollers cooperating with the platen, means for causing the feed rollers to follow the platen in its movements from a writing to a non-writing posi-' tion, and means responsive to movement to the platen to its writing positionfor moving the feed. rollers a greater extent toward writing position than said feed rollers move when the platen is displaced to non-writing position whereby the platen is restored to a writing position before the feed rollers reengage the platen.

11. In a continuous billing machine, the combination of a carriage, and a platen movably mounted in the carriage for displacement from a writing to a non-writing position, feed rollers cooperating with the platen, means for causing the feed rollers to follow the movement of the platen from writing to non-writing positions,

85 the platen is in its normal position, means to engage the gripping means with the platen, said engaging means tending to cause the gripping means to follow the platen in its movement from .a writing to non-writing position, and means re- 40 sponsive to movement of the platen'to its nonwriting position for preventing reengagement of the gripping means with the platen until the platen reaches its writing position. 13. In a continuous billing machine, the com- '45 bination of a platen, means to movably mountjthe platen for movement from a writing position to a non-,writing position including a pair of arms,

means carried by said armsfor latching the platen in its writing position, a lever carried by one of said arms for first releasingsaid latches I and thereafter moving the platen to non-writing position, feed rollers cooperating with the platen when it isin its writing position to feed a work sheet, means to urge the feed rollers into engagement with'the platen and tending to cause the feed rollers to follow the movement of the platen a limited extent when the platen is displaced to an unwriting position, feed roller operating arm having a connection to the feed rollers for restoring the feed rollers when the platen is I restored to writing position, a member carried by one of the platen supporting arms and engageable with the feed roller operating'arm where y the latter 'is operated to restore the feed rollers when the platen is restored to its writing position, and means operated by said lever for moving said member into engagement with the feed roller operating arm.

14. In a machine '01 the class described, a

platen, means cooperating with the platen to grip a work sheet, means to movably mount the platen whereby it may be displaced from .an operative position to an inoperative position, means to movably mount the gripping means, means coop- 7 crating with the second-named mounting means for resiliently engaging the gripping means with the platen and tending to cause the gripping means to follow the platen in its movement toward inoperative position, and means interconnecting both mounting means for moving the 5 gripping means in the same direction as the platen a predetermined extentwhen the platen is to inoperative position, means operated by the platen mounting means for restoring the gripping means while the platen is being restored to operative position, and means to disable the re- 20 storing means when the platen reaches its operative position.

16. In a continuous billing machine the combination with a carriage; feed rollers mounted in the carriage, a platen, means to movably 25 mount the platen in the carriage for displace- I ment to andfrom a non-writing position, means to urge the feed rollers into engagement with said platen-,when' it, is in writing position, said platen. when displaced to its non-writing posi 30 tion becoming separated from the feed rollers to provide a space between said rollers and the platen whereby a record sheet gripped between the platen and feed rollers may be straightened, said feed rollers when the platen is displaced to non-writing position following the movement of the platen a limited extent, and means responsive to movement of the platen toward writing position for preventing re-engagement oi the feed rollers with the platen until the to platen reaches its writing position.

17. In a continuous billing machine the combination of. a carriage and a platen movably mounted in the carriage whereby the platen may .be displaced from a writing to a non-writing 45 position, said rollers being movably mounted in the carriage -and.cooperating with the platen when it is in its writing position to feed record sheets, said platen when displaced to non-writing position becoming separated from said feed 0 rollers to permit a record sheet wrappedaround the platen to become flattened, means for causing the feed rollers to follow the movement of the platen to the non-writing position a limited extent, and-means responsive to movement of 55 the platen to its writing position to prevent reengagement or the feed rollers with the platen .until the platen reaches its typing position.

18. In a typewriting machine the combination 01' a platen, feed rollers cooperating with 00 the platen to feed a work sheet wrapped around the platen, means to movably mount the platen to permit separation of the platen i'rom the feed rollers to permit a. work sheet wrapped around the platen to become flattened, means urging 1 said teed rollers into engagement with the platen whereby the work sheet is resiliently gripped between the platen and the feed rollers, said urging means being operative when the platen 70 is separated from the feed rollers to cause the J feed rollers to follow the movement of the platen to a limited extent before actual separation. takes place, and means operative, upon the re storation oi the platen for preventing the engagement of the feed rollers with the platen.

until the latter reaches its initial position.

19. In a typewriting machine, a platen, means to press a work sheet against the platen whereby rotation of the platen feeds the work sheet;

means to move the platen away from the pressing means to provide a space to permit flattening of the work sheet,, said pressing means, when the platen is moved, tending to follow the movement of the .platen for a portion of its movement; and means to restore the pressing means to its normal position, including an element actuated by movementoi! the platen toward the pressing means for preventing the reengagement of the platen with the pressing means until the platen has reached its initial position.

20. In a machine of the class described, a pair of coacting feed rollers for feeding a work sheet,

means to movably mount oneoi said feed'rollers for displacement away from the other feed roller to provide a space for manipulating the work sheet, means to movably mount the other feed roller, means to resiliently urge the other teed roller into engagement with the first feed roller to grip the sheet. said second-named teed roller tending to follow the movement of the first feed roller when the latter is displaced, means to limit such movement of the second feed roller whereby the first feed roller becomes separated from the second feed roller when the first feed roller is displaced, means for displacing the feed roller, and means controlled by the displacing means for causing the second feed such movement to enable the platen to become separatedirom the teedrollers, means to dising position.

place the platen away from the feed rollers, and means controlled by the displacing means for causing the feed rollers to remain separated from the platen until the platen reaches its initial position.

22. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a pair of coacting feed rollers, manual means for displacing one of said feed rollers away from the other to permit a work sheet therebetween to be manipulated, means to urge the second feed roller into'engagement with the other whereby the second-named feed roller tends to follow the movement of the first feed roller when displaced, means to limit such movement to permit said feed rollers to become separated, and-means controlled by the displacing means for causing said rollers to remain in separated position when the first-named feed roller is restored to its initial position, said lastnamed means being effective when the firstnamed feed roller reaches its initial position to permit the second-named feed roller to re-engage the first-named feed roller.

23. In a continuous billing machine,-the combination of a carriage, a platen, a pair of platen displacing arms pivotally mounted in the carriage and operable to displace the platen from displaced, a control arm pivotally mounted in the carriage and having a connection to the feed rollers, and operating means connected' to one of said first named arms and engageable with the control arm to control the engagement oi the feed rollers with the platen, said operating means being operative, when the platen is restored to writing position, to'impart to the feed rollers, through the control arm therefor, a component oi movement away from the platen to maintain the feed rollers outot engagement rollers in the same direction as the platen when with the platen until the latter reaches its writ- Joan r... em 

